Chapter 30: You Play Twitter, Right?

As the season drew to a close, the Suns faced a grueling schedule.

After a hard-fought victory against the Spurs, the Suns had a brief respite, but three days later, they faced another back-to-back challenge.

This back-to-back was even more daunting.

The Suns had to face the Western Conference's second-place Thunder and the fifth-place Clippers.

The Thunder, with their Big Three, were a team with immense talent, making this game even tougher than the one against the Spurs. As for the Clippers, their star player Griffin had just been named Rookie of the Year last season and was currently at the peak of his career, stunning the league with his powerful dunks.

The Suns, apart from Wade Dong and a few role players, had several players who seemed to be nearing the end of their careers, such as Nash, Hill, and Reed.

The day after the game against the Spurs, there was a pleasant surprise for the Suns.

The Jazz lost their game, making the Suns the eighth seed in the West. This news boosted the Suns' morale, providing some relief amidst the grueling schedule.

Wade Dong now had 15 talent points. Before the game against the Thunder, he once again dominated his teammates, draining all their talent points.

Although a few players were reluctant to go one-on-one with him, Wade Dong eventually convinced them with the help of the coach, accumulating 25 talent points. This made Wade Dong feel quite wealthy.

...

On the fourth day, the entire Suns team flew to Seattle.

This time, Nash also joined the team, as he had been added to the active roster. Whether he would play in this game would be decided just before the game started.

This season, the Suns had not yet won a game against the Thunder.

Dealing with such a talented and aggressive team was challenging for the Suns.

Before the game, Coach Gentry said, "Although we are now the eighth seed in the West, our position is still precarious. Therefore, we need to give our all to win this game and not take it lightly."

"Let's go, team!"

Wade Dong actively encouraged his teammates.

The current Suns team had strong cohesion, which was why Wade Dong kept praising his teammates during interviews.

He needed his teammates to maintain the same intensity they had in the fourth quarter against the Spurs. Only then would the Suns have a chance at the championship. With the current Suns team, relying solely on Wade Dong, Nash, and Hill to win the championship was like a pipe dream.

Especially since Hill had suffered a major injury and was not getting any younger.

Before the warm-up, something unexpected happened. Durant came over to greet Wade Dong and asked, "Do you have a Twitter account?"

"No!"

Wade Dong replied with a dark expression. Did Durant want to continue their rivalry on social media after the game?

Hearing that Wade Dong didn't have Twitter, Durant said, "You should sign up for a Twitter account. It's fun. If you don't know how, I can teach you after the game."

"Hehe..."

Wade Dong rubbed his forehead, "If you don't play in this game, I'll sign up for a Twitter account right away."

"That won't do!"

Durant shook his head, "I want to show you my scoring ability."

"Hehe..."

Wade Dong shrugged. Durant was really bored! So, he ignored Durant and went to the court to warm up and find his shooting touch.

...

Nash did not play in this game after all.

"Beep!!!"

With the referee's whistle, the game began!

The Thunder won the jump ball, and Westbrook dribbled up the court, passing the ball to Durant. Facing Hill's defense, Durant made a big move and jumped for a shot!

"Swish!!!"

The ball went straight through the net, giving the Thunder the first two points.

Durant, the league's leading scorer, already had the nickname "Death" at this point. It seemed that whenever Durant shot, the ball was as good as in.

There weren't many players in the league who could give that feeling.

On the Suns' possession, after a pick-and-roll with Gortat, Wade Dong passed the ball back to Gortat. Unfortunately, Gortat's mid-range shot was blocked by the soaring Ibaka.

After that, Durant scored again, making it 0:4!

Facing the tall and skilled shooter Durant, the Suns players tried their best to defend, but the results were not good.

Fortunately, Wade Dong hit two consecutive three-pointers to keep the game close.

With three minutes left in the first quarter, the score was 21:27, with the Suns trailing by 6 points.

At this point, Coach Gentry called for a substitution, taking Wade Dong out of the game.

"Coach..."

Wade Dong was puzzled as he came off the court, "Why did you take me out?"

Coach Gentry explained, "You can't play the whole game every time. It's too taxing on your stamina."

Coach Gentry had his reasons. In the game against the Spurs, he had seen that Wade Dong was already exhausted by the fourth quarter. He was only able to win the game by sheer willpower.

This game was already difficult to win, so he wanted Wade Dong to conserve his energy for the next day's game against the Clippers.

"I'm fine, Coach."

Wade Dong guessed Gentry's thoughts but couldn't tell him about the "Stamina Pill." No one would believe it anyway.

Coach Gentry said, "Just rest for a bit. Trust your teammates."

With the coach insisting, Wade Dong had no choice but to sit on the bench and rest. A teammate handed him a towel and a drink.

Wade Dong wiped his sweat and took a few sips of the drink, then started watching the game.

After Wade Dong was taken out, Thunder coach Brooks also substituted Durant and Westbrook, but Harden remained on the court.

Without Wade Dong, the Suns lost their offensive core.

Several possessions went without scoring, but the Suns players were still highly motivated. Even facing Harden, they didn't let him score easily.

The first quarter ended with the score at 26:34.

The Suns trailed the Thunder by 8 points after the first quarter.

The second quarter began, and Wade Dong started to complain, but Coach Gentry still had no intention of putting him back in.

It wasn't until there were seven minutes left in the second quarter, with the Suns trailing by almost 20 points, that Coach Gentry finally decided to put Wade Dong back in.

"Come on, we're only down by 19 points. We still have a chance."

Wade Dong encouraged his teammates as soon as he came on, "You've all been doing great."

"Come on!"

Wade Dong's encouragement greatly motivated his teammates.

As soon as Wade Dong came on, he hit three consecutive three-pointers, cutting the lead to 10 points.

Seeing Wade Dong's performance, Coach Brooks couldn't sit still. He immediately put Durant and Westbrook back in. At this point, the Thunder's lineup consisted of Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka, and Adams.

This was the Thunder's strongest lineup.

The Thunder's Big Three started attacking the basket relentlessly, and the tall and skilled Durant made it very difficult for Wade Dong to score. The lead widened again.